Good Things

Its been about two weeks since we moved in our new house. During that time we haven't had Internet. This has actually been quite nice. Ive been forced to slow down, read a book, paint, garden. I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, and succulents in our garden. It has been wonderful. Our back yard is long and lush. It stretches way back to the foot of a mountain. Then it climbs up abandoned terraces that someone made and never maintained. There once was a fish pond that got its water from a natural spring. It is filled in with boulders now. But I am contemplating replacing them with fish. I have been reading a New Zealand History book, which has been so interesting. I often fall under the trap of thinking that all Polynesians are very similar when it comes to culture and history. But this is actually very untrue.
We went on an awesome hike on Valentines day. It was the Tongariro Crossing. We went up and down through wetlands, desert, brand new rocky earth, into a grassland, and then down into a rain forest. The hike was about 19km. But we added an extra three hours because we wanted to climb a volcano. This was the volcano that they used as Mt Doom in The Lord of the Rings. It was pretty ridiculous how steep it was. There weren't any real trails. You just walk and crawl up to the top the best you can. When you get to the top, it just stops and you are standing on a cliff looking into the crater of the volcano. It is amazing. Coming down is a lot of fun. You just have to book it without falling on your behind, which I did several times. Continuing on, we came across several bright blue and green pools. They were milky from all of the minerals. There was also a stream that flowed a creamy white. And steam vents were everywhere. Stinky. It was great.
We got Tobi from quarantine, but are waiting for our cat Nina to be released. The department of agriculture and forestry made a big deal over the fact that she was anemic. So they sent some blood tests to the UK and are awaiting their results before she can be released. When we get her, we will really feel at home.
There has been a lot of surf. But since we just got our car, and just got settled, we haven't gone yet. I am a little disappointed in myself for this. But, there will be more surf. Right now it is very windy.The ocean it moving fast and I can see the ferry and cruise ships going back and forth between the North Island and the South island from our living room window.
This weekend we are going to build a chicken coop and hopefully get chickens... I cant wait.